MEPs Demanded That The Lukashenko Regime Stop Persecuting A Catholic Priest

• 8.10.2026, 15:36

Father Anatoly Parakhnevich is being tried in secret in Minsk.

The head of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Belarus Malgorzata Gosiewska, her deputies Thomas Tobe and Michal Kobosko, as well as the European Parliament’s standing rapporteur on Belarus Helmut Brandstetter, issued a joint statement regarding the closed criminal trial against the priest. Anatoly Parakhnevich is charged with “treason.” The website Charter97.org publishes the statement in full:

— We are deeply concerned by reports that a secret criminal trial has begun in Minsk against Father Anatoly Parakhnevich, a Catholic priest from the parish in Olkovichi, who has been held in KGB custody for more than 200 days and is accused of “treason.”

The decision to hold the trial behind closed doors, the complete lack of transparency, and the absence of reliable information regarding Father Parakhnevich’s health raise serious questions regarding respect for fundamental human rights and the basic guarantees of a fair trial. Belarusian human rights defenders, including the “Viasna” Human Rights Center, have recognized Father Parakhnevich as a political prisoner, pointing to the repressive and politically motivated nature of his persecution.

The persecution of Father Parakhnevich is not an isolated case. It is part of a broader, systematic campaign of repression carried out in Belarus by the Lukashenko regime against the Catholic Church, other Christian communities, independent clergy, journalists, human rights defenders, civil society activists, as well as representatives of national and religious minorities. The regime has repeatedly used charges of espionage and treason as tools of intimidation and repression against people whom the authorities consider independent or critical.

Of particular concern are the systematic restrictions on freedom of conscience, worship, and religion in Belarus. The mandatory re-registration of religious organizations, introduced by the Law “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations,” has led to serious restrictions on the activities of religious communities and on religious pluralism. The European Parliament has already stated that these provisions grossly violate the fundamental right to freedom of religion, conscience, and belief, and has called for an immediate end to the persecution of religious communities and churches.

The Belarusian Greek Catholic Church has been particularly hard hit by these measures. Because it was unable to re-register the required number of parishes in accordance with the restrictive legislation, it has effectively lost its legal status as a religious association. All three previously registered Greek Catholic parishes in the Brest Region—in Brest, Baranovichi, and Ivatsevichi—were denied re-registration and were subsequently dissolved by court order. In April 2026, the Supreme Court rejected the final appeal against the decision to dissolve the Greek Catholic parish in Brest.

Protestant communities are also subject to serious pressure and persecution. The “New Life” Church in Minsk was forcibly deprived of its place of worship. In June 2023, the church building was demolished, and the religious community itself was subsequently dissolved by a court order. These actions demonstrate the extent of the pressure on independent Christian communities and the ongoing erosion of religious freedom in Belarus.

Therefore, the case of Father Parakhnevich must be viewed within this broader context. Secret trials, arbitrary detentions, and politically motivated criminal cases are incompatible with the principles of the rule of law. The use of security services, the prosecutor’s office, and the courts to intimidate the clergy, restrict independent religious life, and suppress those outside the regime’s control constitutes a serious violation of fundamental freedoms.

Throughout Belarus, priests and representatives of the Catholic Church, members of other religious communities, independent journalists, human rights defenders, civil society activists, and ordinary citizens continue to face arbitrary detention, harsh conditions of detention, and highly politicized trials simply for exercising their fundamental rights. Clergy and religious minorities are particularly vulnerable to repression.
We strongly condemn the persecution of Father Anatoly Parakhnevich and all forms of repression against the clergy, believers, and religious communities in Belarus. We call on the Lukashenko regime to cease the persecution of religious communities, restore the legal status of organizations that have been unlawfully denied registration, revoke unfounded decisions regarding their dissolution, and guarantee genuine freedom of conscience, religion, and belief in accordance with Belarus’s international obligations.

We once again call for the immediate and unconditional release of Father Anatoly Parakhnevich and all political prisoners in Belarus, as well as for their full rehabilitation. We express our solidarity with all those subjected to unjustified detentions, secret and politically motivated trials, and the persecution of citizens for exercising their fundamental rights.